I am a contract (temporary) attorney who is normally scheduled to work 5 days a week for 11.5 hours a day. Last week, we did not work on Memorial day. So, I worked 4 days at 11.5 hours, but was paid 40 regular hours and 6 hours of overtime. I thought I should be paid overtime for each day in excess of 8 hours. Did they calculate the overtime correctly under California law? Thank you

The question is whether you are exempt or not under CA law. As a temporary worker, I assume that you are paid by the hour. Is that correct?

Yes, I am paid $30 an hour, $45 for overtime.

By fact that you are paid hourly, it defeats the exemption criteria. You are non-exempt. You should have been paid for overtime for hours worked in excess of 8 on each day. You can read about overtime in California at: http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/FAQ_Overtime.htm

I work for a wholesale distributor company in Los Angeles, CA. Just the other day we had a meeting regarding the changes in the employee handbook effective June 1st, 2005. They mentioned one changed about mandatory overtime. They stated that if they needed people to work overtime due to a high call volume and you refues, that will count against you as an occurence. Can they actually make you work overtime even if you refuse? It sounds as if they're forcing you to work regardless if you want to or not. Please someone reply. Thank you!

In most instances, your employer can require you to work overtime.